Black Sheep, Rising by C. Streetlights is a deeply gripping memoir in which the author shares stories from her early years growing up in an environment where she never truly felt happy. With a mixture of prose and poems, C. Streetlights narrates stories from her childhood and the wounds the gloomy memories left in her life. This is the story of the little girl who cried endless silent tears, the girl struggling to find her footing in the world that was never there for her, and the woman she grew up to become.

C. Streetlights blew me away with her ability to deliver raw emotions through her words, connect with readers, and completely captivate minds. I found myself relating to so many of the experiences she shared, and reading her stories opened up some old wounds, but more importantly, she helped me realize that I too can still heal. C. Streetlights has a remarkable gift for sharing her emotions and drawing you into her world, and the sorrow of the little girl in her memories will tug at your heartstrings. But even with all the sorrow in her childhood memories, an apparent serenity can be felt in the voice of the woman now narrating those memories.

This is a must-read for all parents and guardians of whatever kind, and all authority figures, so we know to do better for every child. From the silent tears of a little girl, we can all learn so much, enabling us to do better for the little girls and boys in our lives so that their little souls can thrive in a happy and loving environment. There is a lesson in here for every reader. If you are going through or have been through the kind of childhood that C. Streetlights endured, then you know that you are not alone. If you have been lucky enough to be given a better childhood, then you will learn to recognize the silent tears of others and to do better for them. Black Sheep, Rising is a must-read for all. Thank you, C. Streetlights, for one of the most profound memoirs I have ever read.

Black Sheep, Rising is a beautiful collection of poetry by C. Streetlights that aims to encourage all the outsiders, outcasts, and outliers to recognize their self worth and take their place in the world. Streetlights begins the collection by deconstructing the idea of black sheep, pointing out that the Bible notes they were originally proof of the shepherd Jacob’s integrity and trustworthiness, rather than the colloquial reference of outcasts. It is in this same way that the author flourishes and rises above; after all, the strongest marker of one’s character is how you treat people who are different from you.

Black Sheep, Rising by C. Streetlights was made for the modern reader, with relatable struggles and issues that the reader will be able to recognize within themselves. Streetlights presents an inspiring mix of traditional stanza poems, as well as more stream of consciousness style prose that mirrors the style of other great poets such as Robert Bly or Allen Ginsberg. The strongest of her poems are those that are autobiographical, recounting a childhood filled with the struggle, and the subsequent inability, to fit in, to feel worthy and good enough.

While some of these poems are more lighthearted, others reach down inside you and pull you apart from the inside, which I find is one of the markers of a skillful poet and a truly good poem. Some stand-out poems include “The Gate Seeker in Vintage Yellow,” which looks at an old photograph of herself as a child and contemplates the ways in which she tried to escape, both physically and emotionally; “My Blood,” “Like Me,” which is the slow realization that abuse isn’t always physical but emotional as well, and “Magnolia.” Thank you for sharing your beautiful poetry and proving that all of us, even the black sheep, can continue to rise.